COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The organization maintains ongoing connection with the community not only by ensuring residents, participants and partners are part of the planning, delivery and evaluation of programs and services but through committees, tables and participating in joint ventures and events. Some examples of activities that take place are the Community Leading and Learning program offered in partnership with Seneca College, the community kitchens, conversation circles, leadership workshops, multicultural and community celebrations, a community office and volunteer placements that build work experience and job readiness skills. The following headings describe in detail some of the mentioned activities.

Conversation Circle

This activity is aimed at creating a space and resources for residents in the community to come together to engage in deeper analysis and discussion of issues that concern them, building the capacity of people to strategize and act for positive change. Itis based on the belief that raising awareness and engaging in analysis of social issues is a starting point for increasing the civic engagement of community members. Ultimately, the increased understanding may result in wider civic participation, either individually (for example, contacting politicians to express views and experiences) or collectively.

Community conversation have had in the past guest speakers such as Voices from the Street (experiences of a citizen's speaker's bureau on poverty and process of getting involved), Building Movement from Chicago and the STOP Speaker's Bureau. Some of the topics discussed and acted upon were related to public speaking, government policy and poverty, racialization of poverty, introduction to Food Security and i\to community economic development / social enterprise.

Community conversations build awareness and connections with other community groups and craft action plans related to chosen issues of focus.

Community Leading and Learning

In January 2007 Delta Family Resource Centre received funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to pilot the community Leading and Learning Project. This 3 year project was implemented in partnership with Seneca College, Yorkgate Campus, sought to reach women of Caribbean, Africa and South Asian ethnicity, living in the northwest area of Toronto, formerly the city of North York, who had demonstrated leadership skills but were affected by socio-economic conditions. Through training and coaching support participants would learn fundamentals of social change and community action planning, and gain valuable practical experience, thereby creating a more diverse pool of qualified candidates available to meet the human resource needs of social services in their communities. It would also offer opportunities for women to have a significant influence on the process and content of civic engagement activities, enhance women's connections to local service networks, and increase awareness of local non-profit organizations of the benefits of recruiting residents as volunteers and staff. The following chart shows outcomes from this pilot project.



92% of graduates were either employed, providing volunteer services in the community, or involved in further education and/or training pursuits.

The community Leading and Learning program continued and is currently funded by the Social Investment Funds through Toronto Community Housing. The partnership with Seneca Colleges successfully continues and curriculum has been adapted to the needs of women participants.

Click here for the Community Leading and Learning flyer

Community Office

LIFE - (Leadership-Inclusion-Faciliation-Empowernment)- Leadership Training

A series of 5 sessions, created to motivate participants to become more involved on local boards of directors, including the board of Delta Family Resource Centre; procure volunteer positions in agency administration, program planning and committees, are the major goals of the LIFE/Leadership workshops. Other goals include establishing a community pool of leaders, who would engage in the dissemination of civic information; initiate community actions to influence government rulings and edicts; and attract others to be involved in local decision making activities that will affect them personally and the neighborhoods where they live.

After participants have completed five sessions of LIFE/Leadership Workshops, they receive a Certificate of Completion, allowing them to facilitate workshops with their peers. Some of the topics covered previously in the workshops include: "Leadership & Group Dynamics; Meetings, Agendas & Minutes; Conflict Mediation in Groups; Planning & Writing Funding Proposals; Becoming a Civic Leader". Future workshops are modified and adapted to include topics of interest to current participants.



Click Here for the LIFE Leadership Development flyer

Young at Heart

This is an inter-generational program funded by Service Canada through the New Horizons initiative and in partnership with Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women. The Young at Heart program addresses social isolation and aims at strengthening intergenerational bonds by promoting the transfer of personal histories, life lessons, and cultural knowledge from Senior South Asian women to children of all backgrounds living in the Humber Summit community. This program also creates opportunities for seniors to volunteer their time and energy to deliver intergenerational activities.

Intergenerational activities include: "True Stories Time", arts and crafts, reading together, homework help, holiday celebrations, preparing snacks together and two field trips to Toronto attractions.

Community Kitchen

The Cook and Learn program is a food access and food security program that offers community kitchens, cooking sessions, education workshops, gardening and skills development sessions to low income and immigrant residents living in the Humber Summit and Jane-Finch neighborhoods. The program uses capacity building and community development approach to promote participant's engagement and action in addressing issues related to food security. Participants explore variety of strategies, build informal and formal networks, develop plans and implement actions aimed at improving food access in their neighborhood. Commmunity Kitchens are offered at Firgove Public School and Gord and Irene Risk Community Centre.





Click here for the Community Kitchen Flyer   Firgrove location

Food Supplementary

NOTE to Settlement Services and LINC
NOTE: Notice that LINC classes and ISAP settlement services funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada are discontinued as of April 1st, 2011
For further information (regarding registration, etc) on these programs, call:
416-747-1172